The Greats

Mom and her 29 great grandchildren all loaded up last fall into the rowboat and took off fishing. What was she thinking? Doesn't she know how dangerous it is to take 29 little kids out onto the lake?
Actually the rowboat was on the beach, a little bit of amateur photoshop was done to place the boat in the water. Mom hired Rachel to take her Christmas picture and when all 29 kids were in the boat with mom you should have seen the adults up on land trying to get all of their attention. Rachel's picture turned out way better than this one taken with my little camera.
Speaking of Rachel, she took the picture below of one of the Dashchaund puppies for sale in Edwards, IL.

These puppies are adorable and ready to go by Valentines day. The mom of these pups is one of the nicest Dashchaund (wiener) dogs I've ever known of. She is not yappy, likes kids, and acts more like a gentle lab around children than a Dashchaund. There are only 6 available so if one is in your future better call 309-676-5850 and ask for Rita quickly. They are purebred Dashchaunds but do not have papers so instead of the megabucks a papered pup would be these are only priced at $300.00.
And speaking of dogs, Rhoda spent some time on the internet looking for stud service from a male standard poodle. She loves the Mastiff breed but wants something that doesn't shed for her next dog. She got what she thought was a great idea, breed Emma to a poodle and end up with a large hairy non shedding dog. Actually she found some pictures of a Mastipoo or Pooymastiff what ever one would call that mix and they are cute. Of course if she did do that for her one dog who would want the others, Emma isn't about to only have 1 puppy. The only standard Poodle we knew was Donna Grig's dog Kate. Kate was a lady through and through and so elegant, something a Mastiff is not, probably not the best of Rhoda's ideas.

Karin's Arena

Church was such a blessing today, 2 great sermons, the first by Ken Hoerr and the second by Tim Funk. The lunch between the 2 was amazing. Ron and Carol Christ served and the tables were full of goodies such as chicken salad with dried cherry on croissants, turkey subs, ham and cheese subs, along with lots of home made cakes and cookies. After church Mark and Mike helped Rhoda and I clear the arena, at least as clear as it can be with the hay, hay rack, grain wagon, tractor, skid steer attachments and the skid steer stuffed inside. The work we go through for Karin's vaulting team! Steven Marchal came over in time to help move the hay rack out, then grained the mares. Next on Mike's list was to work on 2 of the automatic waterers that are leaking a bit. He was only able to fix the one in the breeding shed, the other he needs to buy a part for. Braelyn is also coming tomorrow morning. We had warm enough weather to help with the melting but by 4:00pm the wind started up making it seem just plain cold. Rhoda and Sarah are spending the night then leaving around 4:00am for a snow boarding trip to Sundown with a bunch of the cousins. Rhoda will drive Ruth's motor home to Maquon, pick up Karin and let her drive the rest of the way. Hope they have good weather.

Middle Grove

Mike, Diane and Karin spent the day at the Middle Grove farm yesterday. Mike emailed these pictures of the horses left there. They are all down by the cottage.


That place is truly a horse paradise. The horses do not have to deal with the frozen mud we were dealing with here. They have 80 acres to roam around on. Once they are back to the Hanna City farm they must stay in paddocks, off of the pastures as we don't want to ruin the pastures here.
Mike reported he and Karin went riding and had a blast. Karin rode Sangria and he rode Sally. Mike took the trailer out and brought back Ciera, Bonnie and Ella. Our horses are so funny, if the trailer shows up they come running to see who is here, then if the trailer door is left open they jump in just hoping to go for a ride. Now that is self load! We have 6 horses left out there.
Mark had to fix a downed board this morning. Once the horses were fed and the board repaired it was time to fix breakfast and get ready for church. Such a nice morning, the sun is shining and the wind is not blowing. It was almost a privilege to work outside.

Dream

Dare to Dream, then Dream Big!
Dreams are important, not the nightly kind but one's dream for the future. What's weird is from the time Rhoda was 9 years old together She and I knew there would be a Friesian in our future what we didn't understand is sometimes our dreams are not big enough. Who would think the dream to own just one of these magnificent horses would turn into a huge dream maker not just for us but many others. We know without a shadow of a doubt Raven was our gift from God,

what we couldn't know was by the gift of Raven this small dream of owning one Friesian stallion turned into hundreds of happy customers and many purebred Friesians.
I still remember the excitement when we found our first mare Jenis.

She was only 2 years old and beautiful, the next year we purchased Sanna & Samantha.

These three were bred with Samantha losing her colt 2 months before her due date, and both Jenis and Sanna giving us the beautiful fillies Abby & TC.


In the fall we were able to acquire Ylse.

The next year Jenis gave us Valiant,

We purchased Evan to be his companion,

Ylse gave us Tiera,

while Sanna gave us Wanda

and Samantha gave us a colt.

All 4 were bred back to Raven, Jenis had a filly that died of heat exhaustion,

Ylse gave birth on the 4th of July to Indy,

Sanna was sent to live with Sue where she lost a filly, and Samantha had a filly.

We were then able to purchase Wynne and bred her to Raven.

Samantha was bred back and sold as a three in one package. We took Sanna back, bred her to Raven and bred Jenis back to Raven. In 2011 Wynne had a filly,

was bred back and sold as a 3/1 package, Jenis had a colt,

and Sanna had a filly, she was bred back to Raven and sold as a 3/1 package.

We were then able to purchase Eliza,

Airiah,

Zalena

and Killian.

In 2011 Jenis, Airiah, Ylse, Eliza were bred to Raven while Zalena was bred to Valiant. So in 2012 we have 4 purebred Friesian foals expected and one 7/8ths expected. So take one Friesian stallion with a bad knee and end up with how many purebred Friesians?

Good Neighbors

The snow makes everything quiet, no big parties, no volleyball games taking place at the playground and almost no company. Our neighbor from the east, Mr. Schmider, came over on his fantastic four-wheeler bearing a very special gift.

He claimed his chickens are laying more than he needs right now and asked if we could use some fresh eggs. Just look at this!

He has only 6 hens left, butchered most of them before winter hit but the ones he kept are doing very well. Mr. Schmider also cleared a path up to the apartment with his sweet machine. That made it easy to walk outside for me and the dogs.
Once daylight hits this morning we need to start moving in round bales. The middle paddock needs 2, the breeding shed 1 and we may as well put one in the 4th paddock for what ever horses Mike brings home.

Snow

The picture above was taken right outside our door and the picture below taken of the wheelbarrow, the drift next to that was actually taller than the wheelbarrow.

The wind and snow stopped sometime during the night. We awoke to quietness, the snow has muffled all sounds. Sarah arrived late evening and parked her car near the door, her car tires were completely buried in a drift and her car stuck. After working about 15 minutes it was ready to drive out. The snow is light and fluffy and her car is the only one that has good snow tires on so her's was the one taken over to mom's this morning and the car used to check on all the horses. The other vehicles are still parked in the arena, good thing Karin canceled vaulting for today, it would take some shoveling to get them all out. This snow is not suppose to last long, by Monday we are expecting a warm up and rain.
The horses were checked, the middle paddock will need 2 round bales tomorrow but have enough to get by today. The rest of the paddocks are fine. There was no sign of Raven this morning and he is one horse that gets checked on every day. That boy is smart, he was deep inside his shelter eating.
Now is time to write about a touchy subject, the square bales everybody worked so hard putting into the barn.

We have had people emailing and calling about buying some off of us and none of them like the answer I give them. We spent more than we wanted per bale, we had to pay for the shipping extra and with the labor involved both in arranging the hay and unloading it, we are not real willing to sell it. The hay is 3rd cutting and nice green bales. Below is a picture of an open bale, notice how there is an abundance of green alfalfa leaves.

For some reason horse people think we should sell it for last summer's rates and be willing to load it into their truck (because their horse is starving). We have had people tell us, last year they got some for $4.50 a bale and it was just as nice as this so we should let them have 200 bales for that price. After thinking about this we needed to decide first of all should we let any go and if so what price. Good Alfalfa hay at the Arthur sale barn last week went for $10.00 a bale, grass hay went for $6.50-$7.50 a bale. Doubet's last month was charging $8.00 a bale, don't know if they still have hay. We probably have more than we need but if we let it go what are we going to have to spend if we do need more. So our answer was try to find another source, if you cannot find another hay source, we would be willing to sell some of ours for $9.00 a bale. One person that asked did not like that answer, they called me greedy and thought I was a terrible person for trying to rip off a fellow horse owner. My answer was "I'm terribly sorry but you don't have to buy this hay." After some choice words they hung up.

First

Today is the first winter day for us living here on the farm. Mark made this apartment well insulated, snug and a warm 78 degrees inside with the wood burner glowing. The only way to realize how awful it is outside is to look out the window or step out the back door into the stall area. The window shows the blowing snow, out the back door one hears the wind, and the snow slamming into the building. The first time more wood was needed and the back door into the stall area was opened I thought a truck or car was pulling up. Wondering who could be visiting in this weather, a trip was immediately taken back into the living quarters and over to the window. Imagine my surprise to find nothing out there but blowing snow. Back out to the stalls for wood and only then realizing then how the howling and sometimes whispering sound of the wind and snow hitting the building sounds like the arrival of vehicles. Darcy and Emma both asked to go outside then hesitated once the door was opened. They needed encouragement to step over the half a foot snow drift in front of the door. Emma was very quick to decide she wanted back in beating Darcy to the door. Darcy saw her going in and came running at the opened door, slipped on the wood floor as she jumped inside falling flat. She is just not use to wet paws on a slippery wet floor. It is after 4:00pm, the snow is still falling, swirling around the horse shelters as each violent wind gust picks up more snow added to what is coming down from the gray sky and uses that combination to build drifts in front of the barns.

Winter has Finally Arrived

We woke up to snow, a fine lightweight blowing snow that is quickly covering the roads, cars, horses and dogs. Thank goodness Mark put all the vehicles inside last night. Instead of walking mom invited us to breakfast where she served her special sausage recipe, farm fresh eggs, cinnamon toast, blueberry preserves, fried potatoes, coffee and orange juice not from concentrate.

Emma was outside on mom's balcony asking to be let in. Mom felt sorry for her and let her in, it was either she felt sorry for her or didn't want dog slobber all over her door.




Probably didn't want her entire window covered with a Mastiff tongue.
By the time breakfast was over this is what my previously snow free car looked like.

The fire is burning in the wood stove, the dogs are laying as close as possible to that wonderful heat source and I'm about to break open a new book. Could life get any better?

The Dreaded Doctor Visit

This morning was the appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for my hip problem. My appointment was with Dr. Mulvey a very respected surgeon and even better, one in my insurance network. Registration is always fun, trying to figure out what one is allergic to and what ancestors have had medical problems. My history is short so that was done just about the time I was called for the billing process. Now an office visit co-pay is $45.00 and normally I would be thrilled but now I know better. That doesn't mean I will only have to pay $45.00, that is just the start. The insurance company will get the big bill for this visit, deduct the $45.00 I've paid then add the hundreds that I must pay until the $5000.00 deductible for the year is complete. Here I was of the understanding once the $45.00 was paid my share was done, nope that's just not how it works anymore.
I was taken first to x-ray where I met Johanna from Bradford. So nice to meet a familiar friendly face.

She very expertly positioned my legs the correct way and snapped 2 pictures, then led me back to the waiting room. There I only got about 3 pages read out of the book I'm currently reading titled Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury when I was called by the nurse into an exam room where she asked a lot of embarrassing questions like, "when was your last mammogram?" She didn't like my answer of "I've never had one." but by the time she left she was much more friendly. When Dr. Mulvey arrived he looked at the x-ray and said without even looking at me walk, "I bet you can't put on your own shoes and socks." Well I was pleased to show him I could still use my hands to raise my foot enough to get them on. Thank goodness Sarah lent me her slip on shoes as trying to tie a shoe is a big effort. Long story short is I've been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. The cartilage is gone, the socket has degenerated so badly that a total hip replacement is the only option if I want to walk. Bummer!
That surgery is scheduled for Tuesday March 6th.
Once all the paper work was done, it was past time to head to Meisters for work. Eldon and Jacob were called to arrange picking up the old copy machine out of Eva Jean's basement. That must be done today during lunch hour. They were told to bring something to help get the 450 pound machine up her very narrow stairs. Mark was given the bad news of medical bills and some paper work billing was done. The day is just beautiful for a January day. The sun is shining and the temperatures are in the 40s. How thankful we are for this mild winter weather. It hurts Mark's heating business but the benefits of no heating bills and no snow removal costs far outweigh his profits.
I've one more important job that must be done before Karin's vaulting team shows up. We need to move the grain wagon out of the middle of the arena and into the garage of the farm house.

In Memory of Kylee

Steven's dog Kylee was buried today at the farm. Kylee loved coming to the farm, she loved running with Steven and she loved herding the horses. She was game for jumping up and sitting on horses and tractors. She had boundless energy and loved jumping in the pond. REST IN PEACE KYLEE!

Dachshund Puppies For sale

These are purebred Dachshund puppies and are just adorable. They are located in Edward's Illinois. If interested call the owner at 309-676-5850.
I happen to know these puppies have a mom with the best disposition ever. Both parents are purebred Dachshunds. They will be ready to leave on Valentine's day. Who could resist something so cute!

HayDay

The walk had to cut short, there was an abundance of work waiting at Meisters. Eva Jean and I were not able to finish, hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to try to catch up. That's what happens when a week is skipped. We walked into our office and see the place we store the 50 lessons has collapsed. Dan was called to see if he could come up with a better idea.
After work a quick trip to Aldi was on the docket for lots of fresh vegetables. We were having stir fry for dinner and needed carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, and mushrooms. Barely made it home before 12 round bales showed up, 6 for us and 6 for Ruth's horses. Steven showed up as Ruth's were being delivered. He helped move the 6 off to the side for the coming semi trailer with square bales. The semi showed up at 4:00pm but the truck driver needed to get the trailer in position and wait for the help. A mass text was sent out and we had 10 workers show up. How wonderful is THAT!

I was afraid the truck was too tall to fit through the doors and was so thankful Mark had them built 14 foot high. The trailer was 13feet6inches tall and just fit.


It was 56 feet long and stuffed full, as full as possible with 540 very good quality 3rd cutting alfalfa square bales.

I am so thankful for helpers, did I mention how thankful I was? Phil, Anna and Braelyn showed up, Sarah came to help, Steven Marchal, even though he was grieving the loss of his dog, worked hard, Ruth brought Ryan and Steven to help, Rachel showed up with Jessica and Caleb, Mike brought Ebby over, Ebby wasn't much help but Mike was. Mark showed up to move a few bales before being called away and Rhoda came at the very end.





Four worked inside the trailer and 6 worked outside and the bales just kept coming. It just seemed like a massive amount of hay. They stacked it high. Even with the breaks that were taken to catch ones breath they had that trailer empty in an hour.
Some of the helpers stayed for the stir fry dinner. Below is Sarah holding Braelyn after dinner.

Spark and Rhonda picked Mark and I up for choir right after dinner and we didn't get home until now. What a productive long day!

Steven's Kylee

Steven came to work at the farm today getting the place ready for the 540 square bales coming tomorrow afternoon. He was taking a garbage run to the dumpster with the golf cart when his dog Kylee ran in front of the cart and was hit. He knew as soon as he stopped the cart she was in terrible trouble, he quickly took her to his vet and they found she had broken her backbone and was paralyzed. Kylee was humanely put down this afternoon and will be buried on the farm tomorrow. Our sympathy goes out to Steven. He loved his dog and his dog loved him.